


Numb me

by Urundermyskin



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Addiction, Angst, Ben comforts Klaus a lot, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Canonical Character Death, Child Abuse, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Sibling Bonding, mental health, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-11-16 06:04:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18088820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urundermyskin/pseuds/Urundermyskin
Summary: Klaus was 12 when he fell down the stairs and broke his jaw. Afterwards, Klaus discovered that the pain medication prescribed for him aren’t only good at keeping the pain away, but also the ghosts. After that, he can’t seem to stop his new addiction from spiraling out of control.Or Klaus’ battle with addiction through the years.





	1. Mistaken Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curiosity finally gets the best of Klaus and he tries on Grace’s heels. He wouldn’t have regretted it one bit if it hadn’t ended with him tumbling down the stairs.
> 
> Klaus starts off as 12 in this chapter and every chapter he’s a year older until I get up to age 29

Klaus didn’t know what finally drove him to do it, to finally try on Grace’s heels. Maybe it was pure boredom, but a larger part of him knew he was actually curious as to how he’d look in them. He always thought Grace looked beautiful in them herself. Her bright red heels always matched her perfect lip stick and her soft dress. Klaus thought it made her look powerful and he wanted to feel that way too.

So he had waited until he knew Grace was busy. She was downstairs cleaning the kitchen, Reginald was in his study working on God knows what and all of his siblings were off doing their own thing. It was Sunday evening after dinner so they were done with training for the day and Klaus figured that meant it was his chance to sneak in and finally try those heels on for himself. 

After they had been excused from the dinner table, Klaus had hurried up the stairs and went straight to the closet where Grace’s few belongings were stored.  He knew he had a small window of free time before someone would see him, but Klaus wasn’t even sure how badly he’d get punished for it if he was caught. He was sure his father would be angry at him for it because he was always getting in trouble for messing around, but what about Grace? Klaus didn’t know if she’d be angry at him for trying on her shoes, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that she simply wouldn’t care. Though he did consider her his mother, she was still a robot and her emotions weren’t very evident. 

Klaus made sure to glance down the hall quickly before opening the door to the closet. Inside were dresses that hung from a rack, hats that were stacked on top, folded t shirts, and a few shoes that were neatly lined up at the bottom. Klaus smiles as he kneels down and takes a look at all the shoes. He had came for the red heels, but now a few other pairs were catching his eyes. He saw a blue pair that weren’t as tall as the red, but he liked the color of them. Klaus thought they would match perfectly with the color of his eyes. In the end though he couldn’t resist the original red pair that he had wanted. 

He grabs the heels from the closet and sits with his back against the wall. Klaus tugs off his socks before sliding his feet into the heels. He smiles down at his feet and wiggles his toes in the heels. It took a few tries, but Klaus is eventually able to stand up by holding onto the door handle to the closet. He wobbles around at first but is able to steady himself. The shoes are a bit big on his feet, so as he starts to walk down the hall way they slid off a bit. But Klaus didn’t let that stop him. 

He laughed quietly to himself because he knew he probably looked stupid from the way he was stumbling all over the place. But stumbling aside, Klaus really really liked the way he looked in the heels. They were a major upgrade from the boring old black dress shoes he always had to wear. He just wished that he also had a dress like Grace’s to match the shoes and maybe even paint his nails. 

Klaus felt he looked too good to keep this all to himself. He didn’t want his father to find out and not even Luther who would most likely snitch, but he knew he could trust Ben to check it out. “Ben!” He calls. “Ben look at me!”

Klaus stumbles his way to the top of stairs, holding onto the railing for support. After a few moments Ben appears at the bottom sporting a visibly confused expression. “Why are you in mom’s shoes?” His voice held no judgement, just curiousity. 

Klaus shrugs. “I wanted to wear them. Don’t I look good? Like runway model material or something,” he teases. 

Ben laughs lightly. “Are they hard to walk in? They make you look even taller.”

”It’s like I’m a toddler who’s just learning how to walk. Or like a baby giraffe, ya know? I feel all wobbly but the only way to get better is to practice.” So that was exactly what Klaus intended to do and Reginald had taught them the best way to get better at something was to challenge themselves. So that was exactly what he did. 

Klaus held onto the railing firmly as he took the first step downwards on the staircase. 

Okay, not too bad, he thought. 

He took another step and then one more. He stumbled once, but quickly grabbed on.

”Klaus you’re going to hurt yourself,” Ben worries. “You shouldn’t walk down the stairs in those.”

”I’m fine. I’m fine,” he says, shooing off his brothers concerns. Klaus smiles down at Ben before he continued to walk down the steps. He moves to take his next step, but this time his ankle twists painfully to the side and he loses his balance. Unlike the last time, he isn’t able to grab onto the railing in time and he’s sent tumbling down the remaining steps. 

Klaus bangs his head multiple times on the steps, but that pain was nothing compared to when his jaw collided with the edge of the bottom step. A loud cracking noise rang out and Klaus immediately screamed in pain. 

“Klaus!” Ben yells and runs over to his brother. One of the heels had fallen off in the tumble, but the other still remained on his foot. Klaus was now curled in on himself, holding his hand over his bleeding jaw. His eyes swarmed with tears and he screamed loudly in pain. 

By now Grace rushed in from the commotion and so had Diego. “Back up Ben,” Grace says softly. Ben moves to the side and Grace crouches down next to Klaus. 

The boy had his eyes screwed shut in pain and blood dropped from the corner of his mouth. “Mom... mo...m” Klaus mumbles, his words gargled and slurred. 

“M-mom I-I-is klaus Okay?” Diego asks nervously. 

“Go get your father. I think your brother needs to go to the hospital,” Grace says and Diego runs off to retrieve his father. By now the rest of his siblings had piled in and were all staring at him out of concern. 

For once in his life, Klaus was embarrassed. He felt dumb and self conscious crying on the floor while wearing their mother’s heels. And the sudden realization that his father was about to see him in those heels made him cry harder.

He kept crying out in pain even though the action caused even more sharp stabs of pain to shoot through his jaw. Klaus just couldn’t hold back. 

“Just sit still, Klaus. I’m going to lift you up, but you have to stay really still for me,” Grade says softly. She smiled reassuringly at Klaus before putting an arm behind his back and carefully moved him so that he was sitting up with his back against the wall. Klaus cried out once again at the sudden movement, but kept his eyes closed. He didn’t want to see the look of dissapointment from his father when he came. And sure enough he did.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Reginald asks. 

“Klaus fell down the stairs in mom’s heels. Mom says he needs to go to the hospital,” Luther answers matter of factly.

If klaus hadn’t been in so much pain he would have glared at Luther. He was always such a suck up. 

“Is this true number four?” He asks. 

Klaus didn’t answer. He didn’t trust himself to speak and he knew nodding his head wouldn’t be any better. 

“I believe his jaw is broken,” Grace says. “He will need to go to the hospital.”

Reginald let out a small sigh but nodded. “Very well. Luther Carry your brother to the car. And make sure you take that shoe off of him.”

With that, Reginald left to start the car and Luther moved over to Klaus. Klaus quickly whimpered and held his hand out to keep Luther away. Though the tears were still pooling out and he felt close to passing out from pain, Klaus didn’t want to go the hospital. He knew if he went he’d be tormented by dozens and dozens of ghosts and it would be worse than the pain he felt now. He’d rather sit here at the bottom of the stairs humiliated and in pain if it meant he could avoid the ghosts. 

“Don’t make this more difficult on yourself. Dad said I have to carry you, Klaus and I really rather not hurt you even more.” 

Klaus knew he didn’t have a fight he could win, so he let his hand fall back to his side. Luther quickly moved to remove the other heel and leaned over Klaus to pick him up. 

“On three, Okay? One... two... three,” he says and picks Klaus up into his arms. 

Klaus screams out once again as the pain spurs through his mouth. It was all becoming too much and he saw the corners of his vision turning fuzzy and dark. 

The pain was so bad that for a second the thought he may be dying, but Klaus figured it probably took more than a jaw injury to kill. But before he could beg Ben to come with and keep him company from the ghosts, his eyes slowly slipped shut and he passed out in Luther’s arms from the pain. 

* * *

The next time Klaus was awake he was no longer at home. He found that now he was being lifted out of the car and towards the hospital. He was now in Luther’s arms and their father had to of gone in ahead of them because now a nurse was coming out with a wheel chair that Klaus was placed into.

He winced in pain and his eyes prickled with tears as he tried to open his mouth to speak. “No,” he mumbles, looking up at his father. He was terrified of the horrors that were inside. Klaus knew his head would ache worse than his jaw with all of the voices he’d have to listen to.

”Try not to talk, sweetheart,” the nurse says softly. “What happened?”

”He had a fall down the stairs and hit his jaw hard at the bottom,” Reginald says. Luckily he avoided talking about the heels he had been wearing at the time.

”Okay, he seems to be banged up pretty bad. Already bruising around the jaw, but don’t worry we’ll make sure everything is taken care of.”

The nurse wheels Klaus inside who was curled up in the wheelchair, tears running down his cheeks. He glances down the hall and immediately he could already see figures that were clearly not alive. One man stuck out to Klaus though and not in a good way.

Just like Klaus, his jaw was injured but to a much more severe degree. His jaw seemed like it had been badly dislocated and was practically hanging there while blood dropped out from the corner. His finger tips were non existent and instead were just bloody stumps. His chest had a large blood stain that had soaked through the shirt and Klaus was certain it was a bullet wound.

He tried to quickly look away before the man caught him staring, but it was too late. The gruesome figure made eye contact with Klaus and his eyes widened.

”Ya’see meh?” He says, but Klaus could barely understand him. His words were broken apart and slurred from the dislocated jaw he sported. “Help’m!” The man quickly made his way down the hall approaching Klaus at an alarming rate. He walked straight through doctors and patients as he rushed towards the wheelchair. 

Klaus screamed out loudly, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the hallway. He kept screaming even as the action caused his jaw to hurt more. 

Reginald quickly looks down at his son. “That’s enough of that. There is no need to scream.” Reginald was no fool. He knew those screams weren’t from the pain at all, but from fear. 

Klaus put his hands over his face as the ghostly figure kept getting closer and closer. He didn’t want to see the man once he got right in front of him.

”Hey, you’re okay, sweetie. You’re okay,” the nurse calms. She figured the boy was yelling because of the pain in his jaw which was understandable. From the bruising and swelling she was certain it was broken. 

The next few hours were agonizing for Klaus. Luther had been sent out to wait in the waiting room while Reginald stayed with Klaus. They were seen by a doctor fairly quickly and in the end it was determined that he indeed had broken his jaw. The pain had only dulled a little bit and since that was the case the doctors prescribed Klaus some oxycodone for the pain. 

His jaw was now wired shut so he was prescribed a liquid form of the medicine since it would be easier to take and Klaus took his first dosage while still in the hospital. It didn’t take long before Klaus was starting to feel the side affects of the drug. He started to feel drowsy and his head foggy. He was still laying in the hospital bed when he started to drift off, but he noticed soemthing off putting as he was falling asleep and that was that he didn’t hear any ghosts.

* * *

 

When Klaus woke up again, he was finally back home. His jaw still aches, but the medication was still working well enough that the pain wasn’t as bad as it was at first. He did wince slightly though as he shifted in the bed. He felt a yawn building up and he tried to hold it in, but his exhaustion got the best of him. 

It was a small yawn, but the action caused a sharp pain to shoot through his jaw and he cried out in pain. A few moments afterwards Ben came into his room.

”Hey,” he says, sitting on the edge of Klaus’ bed. “Mom said not to bother you and let you sleep. You feeling okay?”

Dispite the aching in his jaw, Klaus was actually feeling pretty good. He wasn’t sure how long he had slept for, but it was the best sleep he had gotten in months. In his dreams there were no tormenting screams from the dead or zombie like figures calling out his name. Instead he dreamed up some crazy story about a talking hippo and a leprechaun. Klaus almost smiled at the memory of it. It was a nice dream, one of the best he had ever had simply because it contained nothing about the ghosts that normally haunted him in his sleep. At first Klaus thought maybe he had just gotten lucky, but then he remembered the medication. That had to of been what got rid of the ghosts.

Klaus gives Ben a shrug, still too sore to speak much yet. Though the drugs from earlier were still working pretty well, Klaus faked a wince and pointed to his jaw. “Hurts,” he mumbles, this time wincing for real.

Ben nods. “Dad gave mom the medicine the doctors gave you for the pain. Want me to go ask her for some more?”

Klaus nods and so Ben hurries off to get Grace. Klaus couldn’t help but smile a bit to himself. He didn’t want the effects of the drugs to ever wear off. He wanted to keep his mind clear of ghosts and instead live in this dream like state forever. It was exhausting constantly being haunted every waking minute, but now he finally found away to escape that and Klaus wasn’t going to let that go.

Grace came into his room a few minutes later with a small cap full of the medication. “Open up, so I can pour the medicine in,” she says softly. Klaus tips his head back and just barely cracks his jaw open as Grace pours in the contents of the cap. “There. Are you feeling any better?” She asks, running a hand through his hair.

Klaus gives her the tiniest of nods and gently wipes his mouth off on the back of his hand. “Okay,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

She nods. “Well I’ll be preparing dinner soon. I’ll make soup tonight so that you’ll still be able to eat with your siblings. Try to get some rest until then.” Grace sets the bottle of medicine down on Klaus’ nightstand before she leaves the room.

Klaus glances over at the bottle next to him. He wandered what would happen if he took even more. He was already feeling weird, but in a good way. He felt lighter and freer. So without a second thought he grabbed the bottle, twisted off the lid and carefully took another swig from it. A bit of the medicine driped down his chin since he couldn’t open his mouth wide enough. Klaus wiped the medicine away just as Diego walked into his room. 

He raises an eyebrow and points to the bottle in Klaus’ hand. “Mom didn’t help you with that?”

Klaus just shakes his head, lying. He sets the bottle down and Diego walks over towards his brother. “You got banged up pretty bad. Dad says you have to have your mouth wired like that for eight weeks?” Klaus nods. “Huh, guess it’ll be the most peaceful, quiet eight weeks of my entire life.”

Klaus rolls his eyes and smacks his brother with a pillow. By now his eyes were a bit raw and red from crying half the day and they were starting to get droopy again from the drugs.

”So, uh... why’d you wear mom’s heels?” Diego blurts out. Diego figured if anyone had tried on their mom’s heels it would have been Allison. She loved fashion and afterall she was a girl. Diego thought heels were for girls.

Klaus shrugs at first. He didn’t want to sound stupid and say something like “I wanted to feel powerful.” He figured that would just make him sound plain stupid cause going on missions should be the things that made him feel powerful. Not wearing heels. 

“Wanted to... Wanted to see how I looked. Was just curious,” he mumbles, wincing slightly.

Diego nods. “I didn’t really see you in them since I only came after your clumsy butt tumbled down the stairs, but I bet they looked good on you,” he compliments quietly. “I mean you’re already built like a string bean so I don’t know if adding even more inches to your height was a good idea but if... if you like to wear heels then that’s cool. I won’t tell dad if you try them on again.”

Diego still found it a bit odd that Klaus wanted to wear the heels, but then again Klaus was always odd. In the end he wasn’t harming anything and maybe heels weren’t just for girls. Maybe Diego had just thought they were, but if his brother wanted to wear heels too than he’d keep that secret.

Klaus smiles at him. He was feeling a bit dreamy and out of it from the added swig of medication he had just taken and so maybe that was why he felt the need to tug on Diego’s arm and hug him carefully. Diego stiffened up a bit, but quickly returned the hug. 

 

* * *

 

The next eight weeks were absolutely miserable for Klaus. He was constantly starving from his liquid diet, he couldn’t yawn and worst of all he had to cut his time talking down by more than half of what it usually was. It wasn’t that he couldn’t talk at all it was just that it would start to grow tiresome after a few sentences and it caused more jaw spasms and random jolts of pain to happen. But even with all of those negatives combined the one positive still out weighted them all and that was the oxycodone. 

Klaus had been allowing himself extra dosages nearly everyday at first so it got to the point where he felt like he was high almost all the time. But that only lasted for the first three weeks. After that Reginald started to get suscpious on whether the pain was still as bad as Klaus was claiming it to be, so that was when he moved onto his second plan.

Klaus had grabbed some water, added a bit of coloring to it and spilt it onto his bed sheets. He then took the half full bottle of oxycodone and poured the contents into a separate container. He hid that container into one of his pillow cases and then lied to his mom that he had spilt the medication on his bed.

Luckily enough he was able to obtain another bottle, but Reginald was smarter this time. He no longer trusted the bottle out around Klaus because he was curious as to how the medication was disappearing so quickly. Every once in a while after that Klaus would claim his jaw still ached and so he was able to get another random dosage, but finally the eight weeks were up and the wires were removed.

Klaus was almost sad about it cause he knew he no longer had an unlimited supply of oxycodone. Instead he only had the half full bottle that was locked away somewhere since his hidden stash was now empty.

One night, a week after the wires had been removed, Klaus saw a ghost again for the first time in eight weeks. He was laying in his bed, reading a magazine when he heard a faint shuffling noise. He peered over the top of his magazine and couldn’t stop the startled gasp that left his lips. Klaus had gotten so used the peace and quiet and he wasn’t ready for it to end.

”Klaus! Klaus help me!” The lady screamed.

Klaus placed his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. He clenched his jaw from anxiety and his teeth crashed together, causing him to wince in pain. “No, go away. Please just leave me alone!” He yells at the woman.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t go back to seeing and hearing them every single day. Klaus keeps his eyes off of the woman as he scurries out of his room and runs to Ben’s. He goes up to the door and knocks quickly. “Ben let me in! Let me in!” Klaus risked a glance down the hall and saw the ghostly figure approaching. This woman had a large gash on the side of her forehead and the blood was running down onto her floral dress. “Ben!”

A few moments later, Ben swings the door open, eyes wide with worry. “Klaus, what’s going on?”

Klaus shoves Ben to the side and hurries into his room. He shuts and locks the door behind him  even though he knew the door would do nothing to keep the ghosts away. The only thing that’s could was medicine. “They’re back!”

”Who’s back?”

”The ghosts! There’s a woman coming down the hallway right now! I-I don’t want to see them again!” He says as he nervously paces the room. Klaus climbs up onto Ben’s bed and wraps the blanket tightly around himself. “I need you to go get me the rest of that medicine.”

Ben frowns. What did he mean they were back? Ben thought the ghosts had always been there. “Klaus you’re not making sense. When did the ghosts leave? And why do you need the medicine?”

”It’s the only thing that keeps the ghosts away! If I drink the medicine than my mind gets all foggy and I don’t have to see the ghosts. I... I just need the medicine and I’ll be okay. Can you please go get it for me?”

Klaus had the blanket wrapped around the top of his head so that only his face stuck out. Ben could see the forming of tears in his eyes and he suddenly felt bad. He hated seeing Klaus so scared of his powers cause he knew that was like.

”Klaus I... I can’t get the medicine. You’re not supposed to take it if you aren’t in pain.” Ben says and sits down next to Klaus.

”You don’t get it,” Klaus says. As he speaks, the woman finally finds Klaus. She floats in through the wall and stares at Klaus again. 

“Help me, Klaus! Help me! Help me!” She chants.

”No, no, no,” Klaus whines, putting his hands over his ears. He starts to rock back and forth soothingly. “Ben please... Please get it for me.”

Ben stares with his mouth agape for a moment before finally giving in. “Fine, but only this once. You shouldn’t be taking this all the time. I’ll be right back.” 

Klaus cowered on the bed until Ben returned and as soon as he did, he took a long much needed swig from the medicine. Within fifteen minutes, he felt his mind fog up enough that the ghostly woman finally vanished and his eyes grew heavy. 

Ben was sat next to his brother as he watched him struggle to stay awake. “Are you okay?” He whispers.

Klaus nods, smiling tiredly. He lays back down on the bed and closes his eyes. “I’m fine, Benny Boy. Just peachy,” he mumbles. 

Ben said something back, but Klaus didn’t register it in time. Instead he finally lost the battle with consciousness and finally gave in. Once again he felt at peace and safe from the voices. It felt too fucking good to give up and Klaus already knew he wouldn’t be able to stop. Not after being able to experience this silence. He knew once the last of the prescription ran out he’d just move on to something else. Maybe dad’s liquor cabinet or some cough syrup. He wasn’t exactly sure what it would be, he just knew that he wanted to feel this way forever.

 

 


	2. Cough Syrup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben comes down with the flu and Klaus practically begs Ben to share the medicine he's taking. In this chapter they are now 13 years old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at first I was going to make this a one chapter fic, but I've decided to turn it into a longer multi chapter one instead. This way I have more time to show the progression of his addiction.

Ben had been sick all day. At first he figured the growing pain in his stomach was just from the monsters within it. But then the pain was also followed by a sore throat and a fever. Ben was actually thankful to catch the flu since it meant he got to miss out on training for the day. Sure he was shivering, coughing, and drowsy, but it still beat having to use his powers. That morning after Grace had confirmed that Ben was ill, he was sent up to his room. Every other hour Grace would check on him and bring him medicine when he needed. The house was quiet for most of the day since Klaus was off on some sort of special training and he was the one that was usually making the most noise. 

Night time finally fell and his siblings all said goodnight to him before they went off to their own rooms. Well most of them except for Klaus. Ben had asked where he was and apparently his special training was still going on. It worried Ben a bit, that Klaus was gone for so long, but he knew that he'd eventually return. And it was around midnight when he finally did.

Ben had just finished having his last coughing fit and was now on the verge of sleep. He had the blankets pulled up tightly around his shoulders and a few cough drops were left on his nightstand. Grace had insisted on leaving them there just in case he needed them. Ben's eyes had slipped shut and his breathing had evened out right as he heard his door slowly creak open. 

"Ben? A-are you still up?" Klaus whispers.

Ben barely recognized the voice. His brother's usual confident, fluid tone was no longer there. Instead he sounded scared and small. 

"Klaus? I thought you were at special training?" Ben asks, coughing once. He sits up in his bed and switches on his lamp. He couldn't help the way his eyes widened a bit when he finally saw Klaus. 

He was paler than he already was. His face was stained with tears that had now dried up and he was still in his uniform only it was now covered in dirt. "What happened?" He asks concerned.

Klaus shrugs. "Oh you know how dad loves his special training." He smiled in hopes that it would ease Ben's nerves but it only served to do the opposite.

"Where did he take you?"

"Doesn't matter."

He didn't want to bother Ben with his problems because he wouldn't get it. None of his siblings could ever know the real toll that the shouting of the dead was taking on him. Even if he tried to explain, they still wouldn't understand because they didn't see what he did. They didn't see the nightmares that followed him everywhere. 

Just like right now. Klaus didn't want to freak Ben out by telling him that a spirit from the mausoleum had followed him home. It was a man who had a large gaping wound in his chest. Blood leaked from his mouth so every time he spoke it was gurgled and broken up. There was another large gash on his forehead that leaked blood over half of his face. It was horrifying.

"So how is my favorite brother feeling?" Klaus asks. He walks over to the bed and climbs into it with Ben. Klaus was hoping he'd catch the same thing that Ben got and maybe get a pass on training as well.

"I'm okay. Moms been giving me cough syrup and Tylenol  all day to help with it." Now that Klaus was closer, Ben could see that his finger tips were bloodied and his nails were jagged and torn as if he had been scraping them against something. 

Klaus nods. "Yeah, uh, that was kinda why I came in here. You think you could ask mom for some more cough syrup? All you have to do is cough a few times and then voilà you have yourself some cough syrup that I could have. And maybe since you're my favorite brother you could also get some Tylenol?"

Ben stared at his brother in confusion. Why would Klaus want any of that if he wasn't sick himself?

"Can't you ask her yourself? You know mom will give it to you if you aren't feeling good."

Klaus nods and glances toward the corner of the room. The ghost had now decided to start chanting his name again. "Klaus! Klaus! Klaus!"

That was why he needed the medicine. He had spent the whole day trapped in a dark, cold mausoleum. Reginald had took him there right after breakfast and even though Klaus argued and fought, he was still thrown into the damp, stone, building. His head was still faintly throbbing from how hard he had cried while locked in there. And if Klaus thought it got better once Reginald finally let him out, he was wrong. Not only did one of them follow him home, he still saw the faces of the others whenever he closed his eyes. 

"See the thing is... I'm not necessarily not feeling good in the sense of having a fever. I just have a bit of a headache and my throat hurts, ya know? Don't wanna risk getting the flu so I figure why not get ahead of it by taking some medicine." Klaus forces a tired smile, hoping Ben would just give in. If he didn't, well then Klaus was just going to break into the infirmary and risk getting caught. But everything would go a lot smoother if Ben just asked Grace for it all. 

Ben stares at Klaus for a few more seconds. He did seem pale, which was a sign of the flu, but Ben didn't really believe Klaus. The eerie smiles and the forced joyful tone he was speaking in just threw him off. "Klaus, what's actually going on?"

He lets out a dramatic sigh. "Come on, Ben I just- would you shut up for once?" He yells, suddenly glaring at a corner of Ben's room. Ben turned to see what his brother was looking at, but saw nothing. "I just need a little something to help me sleep. Like a lullaby but in the form of medicine."

Klaus seemed tired and it didn't take a genius to see that. Ben knew it was rare for Klaus to sleep through a whole night without a nightmare. That was why he so often wondered into Ben's room in the middle of the night. So, Ben couldn't say no to Klaus. He knew that Klaus probably shouldn't be taking anything if he really wasn't sick, but Ben would feel bad if he denied his brother at least one restful sleep.

So, Ben sighed softly and nods. "I'm only doing this one time, Klaus. So don't come back in here again tomorrow asking."  
  
Klaus nods quickly. "No, yeah I won't, I won't. This is why you beat out Diego for best brother."

Ben smiles softly and climbs out of the bed. "I'll be right back. Just wait here."

Ben walked out of his room and walked down the hall until he found Grace. She was sitting on her bench that faced the paintings that she always enjoyed looking at. Ben coughed a few times and let out a fake groan. He complained of a sore throat and pain in his stomach. Grace didn't even question it. She grabbed the cough syrup along with a Tylenol to take. Ben told her that he'd just take it to his room since he already had a glass of water in there. Grace made sure he knew the correct dosage of cough syrup before Ben walked back off to his room. When he walked back in, Klaus had now claimed the vast majority of his bed and was sprawled out across it. With his uniform so dirty, Ben would usually complain about it, but Klaus seemed to have already been through enough for one day.

At first Klaus didn't even acknowledge Ben walking back in because he was mumbling something to himself. He was facing up towards the ceiling, but his eyes were drawn back to that same corner as earlier. "I got it," Ben says.

Klaus immediately sits up and grins. "Danke, dearest brother of mine."  It was the first time all night that the joyful tone in his voice actually sounded real. 

Klaus reaches out for the medicine, but Ben pulls it away. "First you have to tell me why you really want this. You said it helps you sleep, but how?"

Klaus sighs and scrubs his hands over his face. "When I take medicine, like the pain pills I was on when I broke my jaw, I don't hear or see the ghosts anymore. It's so nice, Ben. It's quiet and I can. I get to feel sane for once when I take something."

Ben never understood exactly how Klaus' powers effected him, but he could take an educational guess. It was hard listening to Klaus wake up from night terrors only to see the ghosts again when he woke up. Ben couldn't even count the number of times that the whole house had been awoken from his screams. So, Ben knew if that was him he'd want a break from it all too. He'd be exhausted if he never got any peace and quiet. 

"You shouldn't do this all the time." He mumbles, but hands the cough syrup over anyways. 

Klaus nods, his attention fully on removing the cap. "You got Tylenol or something too, right?" He asks as he tips the bottle back and takes an alarming big swig from it. He smiles a bit as he puts the cap back on and Ben holds out the pill. 

"It's the night time one. So it should help you sleep." Ben says and watches as Klaus swallows the pill dry. It made it seem like it wasn't his first time doing this. 

"No, yeah, yeah, I get that. Trust me, Benny boy, I won't bother you again." Klaus set the bottle down and lays back in Ben's bed, waiting for the effects of the medicine to take action.

"I'm serious, Klaus. I don't think it's healthy for you to do this everyday. And moms gonna notice if all the cough syrup starts to disappear." Ben says as he climbs into the bed with Klaus. 

Klaus nods and sits up. "I know that. It's just for nights when I have my special training. That's the only time."

"What do you do on your special training?" Klaus had never told the others what happened when he disappeared for hours during his special training. Ben could only conclude that it was something haunting based on the look on Klaus' face when he first came into his room. 

Klaus shakes his head as he climbs off the bed. "Oh, it's just the best! Usually dad just drops me off at Griddy's to see how many donuts I can eat before he comes back. Sometimes I throw up, but you know I think I'm starting to get real good at it." He says sarcastically. 

"I'm serious."  
  
"And so am I," Klaus says as he climbs off of the bed. "Just leave it Ben, cause it doesn't matter if you know or not. It's not going to change anything, but I appreciate the concern. Now I should probably get into my own bed before Reggie finds out I'm missing. I'll see you in the morning, Ben."

Ben sighs and nods. "Yeah, Klaus. I'll see you in the morning."

Klaus smiles softly before he turns off the lamp and walks out to his own room. Klaus was already feeling the effects of the medicine and could no longer see the bleeding man that was in Ben's room. He changes out of his dirty clothes in exchange for his clean pajamas and throws himself onto the bed. That night Klaus doesn't hear any voices as he's falling asleep, just like it had been when he had taken that pain medication a few months back. It was a peaceful feeling. Klaus knew he had promised Ben he wouldn't return the next night for more, but that didn't mean that he didn't have other methods of getting that medicine. After all, Diego was good at picking locks and sneaking around. He could just get Diego to do it for him. And if that plan didn't work Klaus would just come up with another and another until he finally found one that worked. It didn't matter what it took, just as long as he felt at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once I actually wrote this whole thing in one sitting. I'm honestly surprised I was able to focus for a whole hour to crank this one out. But I do feel pretty good about what I wrote. I did proofread it but who knows I probably missed some mistakes. But that being said, lemme know if there's anything you guys want to see in the following chapters and I'll try to include them.


	3. Broken Bottles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well since you asked I actually came with an invitation. This invitation is for a lovely party in my room that I’m having in about five minutes. It’ll involve liquor, nail painting and maybe some weed, but dad would probably smell that so I’m not sure about the weed yet.”
> 
> Diego rolls his eyes. “Just go to sleep Klaus. It’s late and I’m not going to sit in your room just to watch you get drunk and messily paint your nails.”

“Diego.” Someone called in a sing song voice. Diego wasn’t sure what time it was, but it had to of been late since he was just in a deep sleep. 

“Wakey wakey.” This time there was no mistaking the annoying voice of his brother as he walked into his bedroom. Diego kept his eyes shut even as he heard the door crack open. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with Klaus’ shit. Diego had trained all day and had spared against Luther earlier leaving him with a few bruises. So to say the least, he was exhausted and wanted to sleep.

Diego refuses to open his eyes even as Klaus pokes his cheek. “Awe, Dee. Your cheeks are so cute and chubby. I could just pinch them!” Klaus reaches down to pinch his brother’s cheek, but his finger never manages to touch his skin. Instead Diego’s hand shoots out and grabs Klaus by the wrist. 

“Do not put your fingers anywhere near my face,” he mutters, shoving Klaus’ hand away. “What are you doing in my room anyways?” Diego leans up on his elbow and looks up at Klaus. Even in the dark Diego could see how Klaus’ eyes seemed red and his pupils were blown up so much that there was barely any green left. He knew that his brother had been self medicating for at least a year, so he shouldn’t be so surprised to see Klaus high in the middle of the night.

“Well since you asked I actually came with an invitation. This invitation is for a lovely party in my room that I’m having in about five minutes. It’ll involve liquor, nail painting and maybe some weed, but dad would probably smell that so I’m not sure about the weed yet.”

Diego rolls his eyes. “Just go to sleep Klaus. It’s late and I’m not going to sit in your room just to watch you get drunk and messily paint your nails.”

Klaus pouts. “Please?” He asks. He quickly drops down to his knees and rests chin on the mattress so that he was eye level with Diego. “You should feel special! You’re the only one invited! I mean you were my second choice, but Ben wasn’t interested. So I figured I’d wake my lovely second favorite brother and see if he was up for it. So what do you say, Dee? Wanna come join me?”

”I don’t drink and I definitely don’t paint my nails. I’m not a girl, Klaus.” He regretted the second sentence as soon as he said it. Diego knew how much Klaus loved to dress up in Allison’s clothes and get his make up done. Diego had been confused by it at first, but in the end he didn’t really care. After all it was just Klaus and dressing up like that was definitely a Klaus thing to do. “Look... I’ll join you, but I do not want my nails painted and I don’t want to drink.”

”Yay!” He says, clapping his hands so loudly that Diego had to shush him. The last thing he needed was their father finding them sneaking out of their rooms at night. “Oh, it’s just going to be so much fun!”

Diego rolled his eyes as he slowly climbed out of his warm bed. His feet hit the cold floor and he shivered slightly. Before Diego could even complain about it he had his hand grabbed and he was pulled down the hallway into Klaus’ room. Klaus closes the door behind them and whirls around to grin at Diego. “I’m so glad you were able to make it to my humble adobe.” He walks over to his bed and drops down to his knees. Klaus reaches far back under his bed before pulling out a full bottle of liquor. It was something expensive, Klaus knew that for sure. 

“Jesus, Klaus you seriously took the whole thing? Dad’s going to kill you,” he says. Diego sits down on Klaus’ bed, his back against the wall. 

“Ah ha, so you’d think! But so far I’ve stolen about six bottles and haven’t been caught. So this, being lucky number seven, should go undetected as well.” 

Diego was worried about Klaus and how much he had been drinking lately. He didn’t know it was this bad, but he partly blamed himself for not noticing. It wasn’t his job to keep Klaus sober, but there had been so many times that Klaus had came to him and Diego didn’t help. Like last week when Klaus had begged Diego to go easy on him during combat training. Klaus had claimed he was sick, when he was just hungover, but he felt like he was about to puke his guts out. He was in no shape to be fighting against number two, especially when he was already stronger than Klaus as it was. But Diego hadn’t listened. Reginald had heard Klaus’ pleas and he wasn’t very happy about it. He instructed for Diego to keep going until he told him to stop. He said number four needed to learn his lesson. By the time Reginald had finally called it, Klaus could barely get up off the mat. Diego felt guilt build up in his stomach as he looked at his badly bruised brother. He had helped him up and over to the side, but guilt still ate away at him over what he had done. Even with Diego concerned though, he didn’t know how to convey that to Klaus. He was never good with showing his emotions and therefore usually kept them bottled up. It was just easier that way. 

Diego is pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a cork being pulled out. He glances over at Klaus just as in time to see him tip the bottle back and take a long sip from it. “You know... I’ve decided that if there’s one thing good old Reggie does the best, it’s picking out his liquor. I mean it’s like our own personal bar with wines from around the world. Personally I wouldn’t mind just a simple beer, but this stuff is so good too.” Klaus giggles quietly to himself as he takes another sip and holds it out to Diego. 

Diego shakes his head. “I’m not going to drink that. I don’t drink.”

Klaus rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I used to say that too, but then I tried it and haven’t turned back yet.”

”But you’re definitely not the best role model to follow.”

Klaus gasps and places his free hand over his chest. “Oh, wow... I can’t believe my very own brother... My own flesh and blo- well technically we aren’t blood related but that’s besides the point. I can’t believe you wouldn’t have faith in me. After all the responsible decisions I’ve made in my short fourteen years on this planet.”

Diego huffs out a small laugh and shakes his head. “Yeah, if there’s one person in this house that shouldn’t be my role model it would be you.”

”Even over Luther?” Klaus asks. He sets the bottle down on his desk before spinning around in a circle on his chair. 

“Hm... You’re right. It would go Luther and then you,” Diego says. 

Klaus laughs at that. “But come on, Diego. It’s no fun drinking alone and I think you’d really really enjoy it.” He picks the bottle up and walks over to Diego. “Please just one sip.”

Diego groans and reluctantly grabs the bottle from Klaus. He would be lying if he said wasn’t just a little bit curious. It seemed like whenever Klaus drank he was even more care free than he usually was. He seemed relaxed and Diego wanted to feel that way. He was constantly stressing over being better than number one. He wanted to prove himself worthy of being the leader, but it was hard. Luther was constantly sucking up to dad and being a kiss ass. Diego couldn’t compete. Maybe though if he had a few sips from the bottle then he’d finally be able to relax for a bit. 

So Diego holds the bottle up to his lips and takes a sip. His face crinkles up in disgust as he holds the bottle back out towards Klaus. “Oh, god that’s disgusting. How do you drink this all the time?” He asks.

Klaus laughs and grabs the bottle back from him. “I built up a tolerance. After six bottles of stolen wine, you start to get used to the taste.” As if to prove his point, Klaus takes another long sip from the bottle. He then sets it down on his nightstand and stands back up. 

“I don’t know how. It’s disgusting, Klaus,” Diego says. 

Klaus smiles as he goes over to his dresser. “Don’t tell Allison about this.” He mumbles, reaching all the way to the back of the top drawer. When he pulls his hand back out he was holding a red nail polish bottle. “It’s just one bottle so I doubt she’ll notice.”

Diego rolls his eyes and made a mental note to himself to hide his valuables in his room. Klaus’ stealing habits seemed to mostly be focused on Allison’s things, but Diego figured that wouldn’t always be the case. Even if Diego didn’t have the clothes that Allison did, he had expensive knives that could be easily pawned off for drug money.

”Why can’t you just get your own? That way you don’t have to steal it,” Diego offers. 

Klaus gasps. “I never thought of that!” He says sarcastically. “I tried to ask father, but he refused to buy me any. Apparently I’m not allowed to wear it out of the house. So he said it would be a waste to buy me any since no one would see it.” 

Though Klaus hid it well, he was jealous of Allison at times. He wanted to wear nail polish like she did and have the interviewers and journalists as him about his nail polish just like they did to Allison. Reginald was dead set on keeping Klaus the same as the other boys in the house. After five disappeared there were only four of them left and Reginald refused to let Klaus have even a smidge of individuality. So for now Klaus was stuck with painting his nails and almost immediately taking them back off. They never knew when they’d be called out on a mission so their father instructed Klaus to remove the nail polish almost as soon as he put it on. 

Klaus climbs back onto the bed and sits with his legs crossed in front of him. “I wanted the pink bottle, but I couldn’t find it.” He says as he takes off the cap. “But red will do too.” Klaus takes the brush out of the container of polish and brushes it over his thumb, smiling a bit to himself. 

Diego sat there and watched him. Though he had said he didn’t want to watch Klaus do this, he was actually impressed with now neat he was with the polish. Usually Klaus was chaotic and messy, but right now he was sitting still and focusing. “Why do you even bother to put it on if you’re just going to have to take it off right away?”

”Because at least I get to be fashionable inside the house. I’m sure if Reggie saw how beautiful I looked with the polish on he’d change his mind.”

Diego snorts. “Yeah, right. Dad’s never changed his mind over any of his rules so far. He’d be so pissed at you if you tried to leave the house with them.”

Klaus laughs. “Well that’s the price of being gorgeous, Diego. It’s something that you just wouldn’t understand.” He sets the polish down for a moment so he could reach over and grab the wine bottle instead. He takes another sip from it and holds it out to Diego. This time he doesn’t hesitate. Diego grabs the bottle from his brother and takes a bigger sip. He still couldn’t help but cringe at the taste of it though.

“It’s still disgusting.” He mumbles, wiping his lips off. Diego sets the bottle down again and looks back over at Klaus as he finishes painting his first hand. 

Klaus gasps. “My good sir, this is the best wine delivered straight from France! I paid top dollar for this and I refuse to have you mock my taste in wine.”

Diego rolls his eyes but smiles at his brother. “You know, Klaus you’re really annoying sometimes.”

Klaus stares at his brother for a moment. “Why merci my dear frére.” He says, smile creeping up on his face.

”Is that french?”

”It sure is. I’m fluent in about five different languages.”

”No you’re not.”

Klaus nods  “Okay, so maybe I’m not fluent in any other language than English, but I do know some French and German. I could also speak a bit of Spanish but my Japanese needs work.”

”How do you know so many languages?”

”Well, Diego I’m glad you asked. You see I’ve possessed the rare ability to communicate with the dead. Now most of the time they just love to scream my ears off and drive me crazy there’s the occasional ghostie who will actually talk to me.”

Diego raises an eyebrow. “So you’re saying you’re getting tutoring lessons in German from a ghost?” He asks skeptically.

Klaus laughs and nods  “Yeah, Oskar was teaching me. He’s from Germany but moved here after his daughter was born.”

Diego shakes his head  He didn’t know exactly how his brother’s powers worked, but then again almost none of them did.  They didn’t bother asking Klaus and Klaus didn’t bother telling them. Though it was starting to get annoying that every time he claimed to see a ghost, his siblings thought he was doing it for attention. Like at dinner that night. Klaus had been enjoying his dinner, rolling a joint under the table when a ghost showed up right behind their father’s shoulder. He yelled in shock and told them what he saw, but no one believed him. They thought it was just Klaus trying to get attention like he always does.

”Do you see any ghosts now?”

Klaus laughs. “Definitely not while I’m this high and drunk. Apparently my posse of the dead isn’t strong enough to communicate with me when I’m stoned. Which might be a problem in the future if I ever plan on taking over the world. I mean if these ghosts can’t get past a little bit of alcohol and weed we won’t stand a chance!” Klaus finishes up painting his other hand before he holds them out in front him. “Don’t they look good?” He asks, showing Diego.

He nods. It actually was pretty good. Klaus barely any polish on his skin, most was on his nails. “Yeah, they look good.”

”Now it’s your turn. I’m not too sure if red is your color, I’d say black is, but red is our only option tonight.” Klaus reaches a hand out to grab Diego’s, but he quickly pulls his hand away.

”Not a chance, Klaus. I told you I was just watching.”

”Yeah, but you also said you weren’t going to drink.”

Diego glares at him before sighing softly. “Only one hand and I want it off before I leave your room.”

Klaus squeals with excitement and claps his hands together. “Trust me, Diego, once you realize how good nail polish looks on you you’re going to want me to finish. I remember when I first lost my nail polish virginity. I had sworn I was only curious and would only do it once, but now here we are four and a half years later and I’m still painting my nails.”

Diego smiles a bit. If there was one thing about Klaus that he looked up to, it was his confidence. He was always himself while within the mansion. He’d paint his nails without caring what his siblings thought. He would even borrow Allison’s clothes and all though she’d get mad at his stealing, she did admit that Klaus looked good in them. And even though he was forbidden to dress the way he wanted to outside the mansion, he still did it everyday within its walls. 

It wasn’t that Diego had the same desire to dress in his sister’s clothes like Klaus did, but he wanted the same amount of confidence that he had.

”One hand.” He says again. “And that’s all.”

Klaus nods as he grabs Diego’s hand again and this time he doesn’t pull away. “Lay your hand on my knee.” He instructs and Diego listens. Klaus opens the polish once more and starts to paint his first nail. “Now I have two brothers down, one to go.”

Diego frowns. “What do you mean?”

”Well now I’m painting your nails. I did Ben’s last week and so now all I have is Luther’s.”

”Wait, Ben let you paint his nails?”

Klaus nods. “Yep, but he wasn’t as hesitant as you are. He let me paint both of his hands.”

Ben had always been the best when dealing with Klaus. Maybe it was because they both hated their powers and so he knew what it was like to want to live without them. Ben always was able to deal with Klaus’ crazy ideas and erratic behavior better than anyone else. And ever single night when Klaus came to his room after a nightmare he’d let him in. Diego hadn’t even done that. There had been times when he wouldn’t unlock the door for Klaus and eventually he’d walk down the hall and go to Ben’s room instead. 

“What color did you paint Ben’s?”

”His were blue. I stole that bottle last week but Allison noticed it. She took it back, but so far she hasn’t noticed the red missing.”

”There’s no way you’re going to get Luther to do this.”

Klaus snorts. “Oh, I know that. That’s why I’m planning on painting his while he’s asleep. I’m thinking... maybe pink for him. Oh, or purple!” Diego laughs and watches as Klaus finishes the last nail. “Alrighty, my master piece is finished.”

Klaus leans back and caps the nail polish. “So what do you think?” 

Diego looks down at his painted hand and shrugs. He had expected to feel completely embarrassed and weird wearing nail polish, but it really wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t something he’d ever do on his own, but if Klaus wanted to do it again maybe he’d let him. “It’s not too bad.”

”You love it! I know you do!” Klaus says, jumping up off the bed. It was amazing how much energy he still had this late at night. He reaches for the bottle and takes a long sip from it. Klaus puts it back down before grinning at Diego. “Can I do your second hand now?” He asks. Klaus began to sway a bit on his feet and Diego knew he was starting to reach his limit.

”No, Klaus. It’s late we should probably get to bed. I’ll get rid of the wine bottle for us.” Diego stands up off the bed and reaches for the bottle, but Klaus quickly snatches it away.

”No! No, I’ll get rid of it, Dee.”

”No you won’t. You’ll drink the whole thing and get alcohol poisoning.”

”No I won’t I’ll actually through it away. Sailor’s promise,” he says saluting Diego.

”Okay... just set the bottle down, Klaus. Help me with taking off the polish and then I’ll leave you with the bottle.”

Klaus stares at him skeptically for a moment before slowly setting the bottle back down. He grabs the nail polish remover and sits on the bed again with Diego. The whole time he was removing the polish, Klaus kept glancing up at his brother. He didn’t want him to take the wine away.

”Alrighty, your nails are now plain and boring again so you can leave. Bye, Diego.” He says, trying to get him out as soon as possible. Klaus waves at his brother, but as he does so Diego lunches forward and grabs the bottle from Klaus’ nightstand. “Diego stop!” He says in a harsh whisper. He wanted to scream at his brother, but didn’t want to wake he whole house up. “Just hand it back over, yeah? I promise I’ll get rid of it.”

Diego shakes his head and climbs onto the bed. Klaus tries to take the bottle back but Diego blocks it from him and slides open Klaus’ window. “No... No Diego please don’t.” Klaus begs, knowing what Diego was going to do.

”Klaus you’ve already had way too much to drink tonight. I’m not letting you finish the bottle.”

”Diego, please just give it back. I won’t take any more just give me that one bottle,” he says desperately. Klaus wanted to numb himself to the point that he didn’t feel anything anymore. He wanted to drink so much he’d black out because at least then he wouldn’t have a nightmare. 

“No, I’m not giving it back.” Diego looks out the window before dropping the bottle from his hands. It lands with a loud crash inside the dumpster that was beneath the window.

”No! Why would you do that!?” He yells.

”Klaus be quiet dad will-“

”I don’t care! I don’t care who hears me cause you just ruined it all!”

Diego lunches toward Klaus and places his hand over his mouth, trying to keep him quiet. “I didn’t ruin anything. I’m trying to keep you from becoming an alcoholic at the age of fourteen.”

Diego looks down at Klaus and his grip loosens when he sees tears in his brother’s eyes. “It’s just wine, Klaus. Why are you crying?”

Klaus glares at him before shoving Diego off of him. “Because I needed that bottle you selfish asshole.”

”There’s no reason for you to need wine.”

Klaus laughs as a tear slips out of his eye. He quickly wipes it away and shakes his head. “You don’t get it, Diego. Your power is simple all you do is throw things. Try living with an army of decaying, gory ghosts all the time that never shut up. They scream your name all night long and try to grab you and hurt you and the only way to shut them up is by getting high or drunk. And it’s not like anyone even believes me anyways when I tell them I see a ghost or that I had a nightmare. All you think I’m doing is being an attention whore.” 

Klaus wasn’t one who usually burst out in anger, but he was tired. He was so so very tired of the voices in his head and maybe he was also starting to come down from his high. He knew he wasn’t thinking right, but he couldn’t help but lash out. Ben was the only one in that house that always helped him.

”You’re right. I don’t know what it’s like and I don’t have nightmares over my power, but there’s a better way of handling this. All you have to do is just train and you’ll be able to control it.”

Klaus’ eyes go wide and he fakes an excited smile. “Gee, really? I never thought about training, but that is a very good idea. It’s not like I haven’t been doing that for fourteen years now.”

”You know what? You don’t always have to be a sarcastic bitch. It gets old real quick.” 

“Yeah, well I’m getting tired of you acting like you’re better than me. Cause you’re not and I can do what I want.”

”Klaus I’m trying to-“

“Leave my room, Diego. I want you out of my room now.” He says, glaring at him. 

“Klaus come on I-“

”Just shut up. For once just listen to me and get out of my room.” 

Diego stares at his brother for a moment. He knew he was hurting and needed comfort, but Diego didn’t know how to give that to him. Ben was always the one that was good at those things not him. So the least he could do was just listen.

”Okay, I’ll leave. Just... Just come get me if you need to.”

”I won’t need to.”

Diego offers him a sad smile before walking back to his room. He let’s out a heavy sigh and flops down on his bed. It was already three in the morning and they had to get up at six. Diego should have been exhausted, but he was only worried. His brother had a habit of self destruction and he just wanted to end it. There were so many other ways he could go about it that didn’t involve drinking. 

Luther worked out when he was upset. He would run outside in the court yard until his lungs burned or he would hit the punching bag. With every hit to the bag or step of his foot he felt the stress slowly leave him. It was always something he could rely on when he was upset.

Diego practiced his knife throwing. When he had a stressful day and couldn’t seem to stop stuttering he’d practice his target throwing. It helped him shut off his mind for a while and relax enough that he would stop stuttering. Every time the knife hit the bull-eyes he’d feel more and more satisfied with himself and relaxed.

Allison liked to listen to music or dance when she was upset. She would often turn her music on, but not too loudly otherwise their father would get upset. Allison would let the melodies relax her as she danced along to them or sang. Allison always had a thing for performing because it was something she was passionate about. It helped distance herself from reality for a while.

Five, when he was still around, worked on equations when he was upset. None of them could ever figure out how that could be soothing, but it always worked for Five. He loved to write all over a large white board and figure out equations that were nearly impossible.

Ben loved to read. He would read every chance he got. When the monsters in his stomach were acting up, he’d try to ignore them by reading. He would get so absorbed into the fictional worlds that he’d be able to ignore the pain and discomfort for a while.

Vanya, while she didn’t have a power, played the violin. She did it every chance she got even if she wasn’t upset. She loved the way the music would echo down the halls and sometimes Klaus or Diego would sneak in to listen.

Klaus though was the only one that didn’t have a healthy way of releasing his stress. Sure he liked to paint his nails and dress up, but that wasn’t enough. The ghosts would still scream at him. So he had tried blocking them out with headphones. He’d turn the music up at full volume, but he could still hear their muffled screams. In the end Klaus figured the only way to feel at peace was by vanishing the ghosts and that could only be done by using something or taking their father’s alcohol. 

For the second time that night, Diego was awoken by someone entering his room. He had only been in bed for ten minutes, so he was only partially asleep. He cracked his eyes open as he watched Klaus walk into his room with his pillow and blanket. Without saying anything to Diego Klaus set up a little bed on his floor and laid down. 

Diego smiled softly. He thought about saying something to Klaus but ultimately decided not to. Klaus had finally calmed down enough that he wasn’t angry. So Diego simply just watched as he placed his headphones over his ears and closed his eyes to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had no idea how I was going to end this chapter until I finished writing it. But it was so much fun to write and I basically wrote the whole thing in one sitting. So if you enjoyed don’t forget to comment because I love all of your guys comments so much. 
> 
> Also if you have any prompts that’s you want to be done comment them below and I’ll try to write them

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! I know it was a bit of a depressing read but I read a headcannon on Twitter I believe that stated that Klaus was probably prescribed some heavy pain killers after breaking his jaw and that was how he found out drugs helped dull his power so I wanted to write it out.
> 
> Also I am taking prompt ideas! So if that’s anything you want to see in future chapters comment below


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